Last year, the horse named Gronkowski missed the Kentucky Derby. This year, his human counterpart also didn’t make it.
Via Mike Jurecki of AZCardinals.com, former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski skipped the Kentucky Derby and opted to celebrate his football retirement with family and close friends in Las Vegas.
Given that Gronk’s now-former quarterback, Tom Brady, basically treats the Derby as basically an annual gathering of his closest football friends, it’s a little odd that Gronkowski opted not to attend.
But everything right now is a little odd about Gronk. He’s dabbling in acting and otherwise moving on from football, but he’s also hinting that maybe he isn’t done. And some think that perhaps he’ll return to football for another playoff run in 2019.
Whether orchestrated or not, it keeps Gronkowski relevant at a time when, like almost every other player not named Brett Favre who retires at the end of a given season, the player would be gone and -- until eligible for the Hall of Fame or hired as a broadcaster -- largely forgotten.